And yet… This brings us to the 2nd law: Law 2: The probability that a person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.Ĭipolla postulates that stupidity is a variable that remains constant in all populations. This problem is compounded by the biased assumption that some people are intelligent because of superficial factors such as their job, education, or other characteristics that we believe rule out stupidity.įor example, Nabilla is excluded because she is a multimillionaire. No matter how many idiots you suspect you are surrounded by, you are invariably underestimating the total. The question is: what category are you in? Law 1: Everyone always and inevitably underestimates the number of stupid people in circulation All are defined on the basis of a win/lose concept, slightly echoing the prisoner’s dilemma.
He divides humanity into four main categories: Intelligent, Bandit, Helpless, Stupid. In 1976, Professor Cipolla published a 60-page essay describing the fundamental laws of a force he perceived as the greatest existential threat to humanity: stupidity.
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